Hey all, I heard rumour that the Tulsi(a certain indian medicinal plant) is considered as a cure for AIDS. i mean is that really possible? the programme was kinda a commercial thing... Is it the logic behind the producer of that teleprogramme to make money or is it really proved? Thanx, VeenaandNivyah

Till now, what I've heard is...in 'curing' AIDS (I think 'supress' is a better word) they use a therapy called triple drugs..in USA, they have it but it's really expensive. And the latest news that I heard is in Africa, where AIDS remains so many there..they use a supressive agents that's far cheaper than triple drugs therapy.
From those two articles and news' that I read and heard, I haven't see or heard that there's AIDS curing agents..

Q: Why are chemists great for solving problems?
A: They have all the solutions.

Therapy against AIDS can be done in two ways:
(1) to supress HIV spreading over the infected body that will worsen patients' condition
(2) to prevent patients from any further infections that will be easily come because of their lacking immune system, especially by relying on innate immunity that is the first gate of body defense system

HIV is a very smart virus that is capable to change its surface protein, just like its old friend influenza virus but HIV is much smarter and so naughty (We call both as "Masters of Mutation" hehe), by changing the active gene expression. A random change in a gene, a mutation, and the genes of HIV mutate extremely frequently, more often than any other virus known to science. When a gene encoding one of the virus surface proteins is the one that mutates, the shape of that protein is often altered, and as a result the immune system memory no longer recognizes it.

This constant altering of HIV surface proteins is why the search for a universal anti-HIV virus has not succeeded. Like a gun shooting at a target that keeps moving aside, no one vaccine can successfully recognize HIV for long. For an AIDS vaccine to work, it must be targeted at something that doesn't shift around so much.

They try to create some antiviral agents by analyzing the process of HIV virus infecting T-cell....have you ever heard antiviral agent named analogous nucleoside like indinavir, amprenavir and friends?? that's some of the inventions...the scientists are trying to create more developed antiviral agents for HIV...

Q: Why are chemists great for solving problems?
A: They have all the solutions.

vinaya wrote:thanx doctht cleared up a few thingsso how come scientists r wrking on trying to cure AIDS if actually nothing can be dne ???

Some scientists are trying to rely on innate immune system as the first gate before HIV attacks CD4+ T cells. I have a paper of this and presented it on a Immunogy course last year, but unfortunately I cannot find it in my computer . Give me time to search for it